I know that certain folders, namely My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, My Videos, etc. are actually system folders. However they can be relocated within Windows and have all shortcuts, etc., still point to them. For example, I immediately relocated all to my D: drive after installing Windows XP Pro on this PC. I wanted the C: drive to contain only the OS and program files. All data and media files are on my D: drive, and my E: drive (and a couple external USB drives) are for backups and synced folders only.

But....

Can these folders be renamed without causing issues? What I want to do is remove the stupid "My" from the folder names! Who in the heck ever dreamed that concept up anyway? It just sounds so darn childish for some reason - My Pictures, My Music, etc., etc. Of course they're mine!! And I know that!! I don't need to remind myself and the world that these are MY very own folders! It just makes them look kind of stupid among all my other data folders.

But can I take that possessive adjective away without any dire consequences? I thought I would ask before just trying it and then asking you all how to get out of that mess!

hmmm, I've changed name of my documents but with something ... thought it might have been Tweak UI but just had a look there and cant see anything - it's a fairly recent install so just thinking now it might have been Autopatcher but that's no help to you probably

I dont think you can simply rename them ... or dont think it works at any rate

I made a folder on drive d and called it something different then 'my documents', then moved the 'my documents to that folder with the move folder command in properties. And no there is not a subfolder called my documents in it, but everything was there that was in my documents.

And since you brought it up I renamed the desktop icon from my documents to another name to see if I could, and it worked. Just right click and click Rename.

There's some registry entries that need fixing if you want to rename those special folders. Iirc it's also possible to turn off the generation of them with the policy editor, or manually fixing some registry keys as well. They bother me.

I just ignore the 'My' series and save all my personal data at another location. Lots of apps feel free to create their own subfolder within these anyway and I wouldn't want my personal data getting mixed with all that junk. I have a feeling that if you rename these folders they will sooner or later be regenerated by some app or another and you'll just have dupes on your hands, leave them alone and make your own data folders hierarchy instead.

That's a good idea nosh for personal data.As well as scans, screenshots and downloads.I put them all on drive d.

I also made a folder and called it program files.So all my programs except what I already had on c drive now go to d drive.So when the program goes to install I just change the c to a d, and leave the rest the way it is, very easy.No problems so far.

I've had all my installed programs on D: (root drive) for years. I keep the data separately on E:So when I backup my system I just make an image containing c: and d: - a different data backup cycle is used for e:

I would think long and hard before changing the names of these directories..

As you say, you can rename them and windows will adjust to the new folder names..

But you may have older programs that are not coded well that get confused, OR you may have programs that remember when the directory was called one thing, and now that it's changed they will still be looking in the old place.

nosh said exactly how i feel as well:

I just ignore the 'My' series and save all my personal data at another location. Lots of apps feel free to create their own subfolder within these anyway and I wouldn't want my personal data getting mixed with all that junk.

In other words, the default "My Documents" and other such folders are useful as places where some programs autocreate subfolders and files. I prefer to make an *additional* directory for my personal files and leave the "My Documents" folder completely alone -- i never go in there and never save files in there.

It also helps to have a dialog extender tool as well to help you quickly navigate between your favorite folders.

I would think long and hard before changing the names of these directories..

As you say, you can rename them and windows will adjust to the new folder names..

But you may have older programs that are not coded well that get confused, OR you may have programs that remember when the directory was called one thing, and now that it's changed they will still be looking in the old place.

All true, mouser, and also all considered. I've gone ahead and changed them and I am expecting some applications to balk at the change. Some already have and I was able to change their settings to accommodate the new names. I have also edited preferences, settings, etc. of some of my other frequently-used programs and changed those also. I am trying to keep a log of exactly what I have changed and when. If it turns out that this simply will not work because too many programs I use can't accommodate the new file names I'll then revert back to the dumb old "My" format. (I understand that even Microsoft changed these names and removed "My" from them in early versions of Longhorn, and that is their goal - saw that on an MSDN blog).

But I have found a few sites/forums where folks have switched like this and are getting by OK. So I'll give it a good try and report back whenever I encounter any rough spots - or not. Hopefully I will let DC users here know wither that it is OK to go ahead and try this, or warn them away from these name changes if it doesn't work out.

nosh said exactly how i feel as well:

I just ignore the 'My' series and save all my personal data at another location. Lots of apps feel free to create their own subfolder within these anyway and I wouldn't want my personal data getting mixed with all that junk.

In other words, the default "My Documents" and other such folders are useful as places where some programs autocreate subfolders and files. I prefer to make an *additional* directory for my personal files and leave the "My Documents" folder completely alone -- i never go in there and never save files in there.

It also helps to have a dialog extender tool as well to help you quickly navigate between your favorite folders.

I presently use Enhanced Dialog from Stardock. When I was actively subscribed to their Object Desktop this was one of the apps I kept using even when I had dropped a lot of their other "eye candy" stuff that looked great but started causing me problems in a lot of other areas. I still use it today.

I notice that you didn't cover that in your mega-review of Filebox Extenders. Any reason? Or just that you already had enough and never got to this one?

My biggest complaint is that there are always a number of dialogs where Enhanced Dialog never kicks in, but I believe that is because of the specific applications configuration and not Enhanced Dialog. Do the ones you reviewed also have this issue?

My biggest complaint is that there are always a number of dialogs where Enhanced Dialog never kicks in, but I believe that is because of the specific applications configuration and not Enhanced Dialog. Do the ones you reviewed also have this issue?

I hate how so many programs just decide to store their setting and other junk under My Documents by default. Sometimes there is no option to change this as the directory. I feel like My Documents have been completely hijacked, so I can either quit using the program or find a new place to relocate all of "My Documents" to. So my question is, assuming I don't want to keep my documents on an external drive, does placing them under C:\Documents and Settings or C:\Program Files offer any extra protection from viruses, trojans or hackers than putting them in any random folder on my computer like just C:\My Docs ?

Yeah, I'm having that issue now too. I changed a number of the "My" folders and when an application balks I just change the settings for that app. But some won't keep the change. E.g., MindManager Pro 6 creates a "My Maps" folder. I changed that to just "Maps" and of course MM Pro 6 balked and recreated the My Maps folder, though it didn't move any files back into it. I changed that within MindManager and all was well. Till I rebooted and started MindManager again - same squeals from it.

My biggest complaint is that there are always a number of dialogs where Enhanced Dialog never kicks in, but I believe that is because of the specific applications configuration and not Enhanced Dialog. Do the ones you reviewed also have this issue?

Oh well. Enhanced Dialog is working pretty well otherwise. A few weird things but they may be caused by Windows XP Pro. I'm not sure. Like even though I have all dialogs set to show in Detailed mode, many still open in the List mode, and some in Thumbnails mode. Also, About every other time I open a dialog it shows the files in reverse alpha order. Arrgggh! Is that likely to be Enhanced Dialog? Or does WinXP do that? Like, all are in alpha-ascending order when downloading something. Then the next time I download they are listed in alpha-descending!

Yeah, I'm having that issue now too. I changed a number of the "My" folders and when an application balks I just change the settings for that app. But some won't keep the change. E.g., MindManager Pro 6 creates a "My Maps" folder. I changed that to just "Maps" and of course MM Pro 6 balked and recreated the My Maps folder, though it didn't move any files back into it. I changed that within MindManager and all was well. Till I rebooted and started MindManager again - same squeals from it.

Yeah, I'm having that issue now too. I changed a number of the "My" folders and when an application balks I just change the settings for that app. But some won't keep the change. E.g., MindManager Pro 6 creates a "My Maps" folder. I changed that to just "Maps" and of course MM Pro 6 balked and recreated the My Maps folder, though it didn't move any files back into it. I changed that within MindManager and all was well. Till I rebooted and started MindManager again - same squeals from it.

assuming I don't want to keep my documents on an external drive, does placing them under C:\Documents and Settings or C:\Program Files offer any extra protection from viruses, trojans or hackers than putting them in any random folder on my computer like just C:\My Docs ?

Vegas, my guess would be putting your docs in a random folder rather than the locations decided by Windows would make them slightly less vulnerable for the simple reason that if a trojan is out to seek and destroy your data that's probably the first place it'll look. I wouldn't get any sense of security from doing that coz sadly, malware writers do have the ability to scour the rest of your drives too.

even though I have all dialogs set to show in Detailed mode, many still open in the List mode, and some in Thumbnails mode. Also, About every other time I open a dialog it shows the files in reverse alpha order. Arrgggh! Is that likely to be Enhanced Dialog? Or does WinXP do that? Like, all are in alpha-ascending order when downloading something. Then the next time I download they are listed in alpha-descending!

I havent had that problem (xp home, filebox extender)You could always try disable Enhanced Dialog see how you get on?then maybe try filebox extender or whats that one ChalkTrauma made (found it: CFDButton) and see how you get on with them -might help pinpoint the problem...

Oh well. Enhanced Dialog is working pretty well otherwise. A few weird things but they may be caused by Windows XP Pro. I'm not sure. Like even though I have all dialogs set to show in Detailed mode, many still open in the List mode, and some in Thumbnails mode. Also, About every other time I open a dialog it shows the files in reverse alpha order. Arrgggh! Is that likely to be Enhanced Dialog? Or does WinXP do that? Like, all are in alpha-ascending order when downloading something. Then the next time I download they are listed in alpha-descending!

TweakUI has a section where you can customize the dialog boxes. You can add and remove anything you like. It always showed up the way I set it up, but I didn't make changes to the views.

There's an excellent overview of XP here that covers most of what TweakUI can do here:

I love Enhanced Dialogue but have long since removed it. Why? Because its mere presence on my computer (ie even when installed but disabled) renders 16-bit application open/save dialogues from appearing

Otherwise it is my favourite dialogue enhancement tool and my favourite Stardock app. Like Jim, Enhanced Dialogue survived all of my Stardock purges, until the last one. Now I'm Stardock free...

I love Enhanced Dialogue but have long since removed it. Why? Because its mere presence on my computer (ie even when installed but disabled) renders 16-bit application open/save dialogues from appearing

Otherwise it is my favourite dialogue enhancement tool and my favourite Stardock app. Like Jim, Enhanced Dialogue survived all of my Stardock purges, until the last one. Now I'm Stardock free...